Various athletic shoes are presently being marketed for different activities such as running, tennis, basketball, racqetball and golf. These shoes are designed to prevent, or at least minimize injuries caused by lateral foot ankle instability during such activities. Current athletic shoes do not adequately guard against injuries caused by all type of athletic activities, including those activities which involve side-to-side jumping motions. These activities have greater tendency for lateral foot ankle instability, and hence injury in the foot and/or ankle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,373, issued Jun. 12, 1973 descries an athletic shoe which incorporates a flexible wedge mounted therein which extends completely to the rear edge of the heel thereby providing maximum “cushion”.
An earlier patent, U.S. Pat. No. 2,847,769, issued Aug. 19, 1958 discloses shoes for golfers which are designed to compel a golfer to automatically assume the correct golf stance.
Other athletic shoes incorporate air-cushioning means, usually in the heels, for absorbing the impact experienced during said activities.
So far as it is know, there is no single pair of athletic shoes which adequately affords the desired degree of protection and guards against injuries resulting from foot instability during athletic activities of the type hereinbefore mentioned. This is largely because the foot-angle structure is complex and includes numerous joint axis with different movements and displacements in response to varying impacts and positions. Thus, the design of an athletic shoe which can protect against the different possible injuries resulting from a variety of athletic activities must take into consideration such factors as supination, pronation, dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, abduction, and adduction which occur at the foot-ankle joint during said sports activities. Accordingly, there is need for a single athletic shoe which is designed to afford maximum benefits for those engaged in various athletic activities in which foot-ankle injuries are matter of common experiences.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an athletic shoe which is designed to afford maximum protection against injuries resulting from sports activities involving jumping and side-to-side motions such as, e.g., running, jumping, basketball, tennis and racquetball.
It is a further object of this invention to provide athletes with athletic shoes which incorporate features that counter the adverse effects of such factors as supination, pronation, dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, abduction and adduction experienced by athletes during several athletic activities.
The foregoing and other objects of this invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.